


Memory and the Maiden

by aquilasaurus



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, F/F, Fluff, Gardens & Gardening, Hades and Persephone AU, Lesbian Hades and Persephone, Not all that fluffy come to think of it, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-27 08:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17158472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquilasaurus/pseuds/aquilasaurus
Summary: Persephone was a botanist. Greek myth AU ficlet.Day 25 of the Winter Fluff Event: Winter Myths & Legends.





	1. Chapter 1

Persephone was a botanist, not a maiden. She had been conducting research in that meadow.

Everyone knew who Ada was. In that cold castle, she was in charge. Every coming and going was authorized by her. She ruled her realm by birthright, or at least by the vicissitudes of family politics, not with an iron fist but with compassion. Her charges were stuck here, and her task was to care for them with a gentle hand. She dedicated herself to this task. Light radiated from her eyes alone, and with it, comfort.

When Ada came to recruit her, she knew why. There was a garden there, or at least there used to be: yew, cypress, juniper. Gnarled stumps stuck jaggedly out of the dark grey earth. She was to be its cultivator.

She used to cry herself to sleep at night. At first glance, the place seemed designed to inhibit growth, to frustrate her efforts. But over time she learned that nothing could be further from the truth. This cavernous dusty castle was in fact a nurturing ground, mobilizing the staidest of traditions in service of upholding memory. It was, paradoxically, full of life. Things began to grow again: at first wispy grey things, and then, as she watched in wonder, things with an abundance of thick, dark, shining leaves. Beautiful things, like hope.

She grew to love the quiet stone corridors, the chill darkness, the ghosts of knowledge that inhabited these stone walls. Seated at her right hand, she grew to love Ada herself. They reigned together as darkness and light, balance in microcosm.

Every now and then, she returned to the field and the meadows, to collect specimens that refused to grow in the hardened soil of the castle grounds.

When she was gone, winter settled over the castle.


	2. The Long Ride Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada always picked her up.
> 
> Day 30 of the Winter Fluff Event: Carriage Ride.

By now it was a ritual she looked forward to.

The first time had been frightening. Ada had picked her up personally, from her home, in a black carriage. They rolled silently along, and she found herself desperate to look back. Desperate, but unable, and very, very lonely.

She had been unsure what to expect, leaving behind her home and her ecosystem, her vibrant outdoor laboratory, for the dark, barren castle. At Cackle’s there would be seagrasses and dried herbs, to use in any potion or elixir her powers could concoct, but there would be no fresh flowers, no unknown species, no wilderness.

And no contact with the outside world. But that didn’t bother her. There was no one left for her to miss.

And so the first time she asked to leave, Ada was perplexed: didn’t Cackle’s have everything she needed? Almost, and no. Ada agreed to let her go, and summer bloomed in her meadow.

But Ada came for her again. There was work to do.

It became their habit, their annual pattern. Every year, she would leave and return to her beloved wilderness. In time, Ada would roll up in her slick black carriage to fetch her. To whisk her back.

Their relationship shifted on those long rides back. Out of the first awkward silences grew long discussions about learning, memory, tradition. They were both firm believers in tradition. Ada knew little about plants, but she observed enough to give a report on the gardens and grounds. It was comfortable, companionable. Intimate.

She found that she had missed Ada.


End file.
